pseudobug

Hello everyone!

Just stumbled onto this site while doing a little on-line research to bolster arguments with a a couple of dyed-in-the-wool, Bible-thumping, God-fearing, anti-evolutionist, paleontology-is-fradulent, no-transitional-fossils, intelligent-design worshipping, totally ignorant of scientific methodolgy, creationists.

After that mouthful, and after reviewing posts here, I must say it is nice to find folks with more than two functioning neurons that actually know what they are talking about! It's a refreshing change from the typical preface of "God said...", "It is written...", or "Behe's irreducible complexity "evidence" and the concept of ID PROVES there is a designer/aka God because..", that I've been dealing with in "debates" about science in general and evolution in particular. (man, I love run-on sentences.. )

Sadly, the world is infested with them. (BTW, have you scared all of them off? )

After being "cloistered" away in a PhD program and postdocs for the better part of the last decade, I'd almost forgotten that people actually believe the above malarky.

Any way, nice to be aboard. I'm looking forward to pitching in and expounding upon the few things I KNOW a little about and expanding my knowledge about evolution in general.

[ January 25, 2002: Message edited by: pseudobug ]</p>

BLoggins02

Welcome aboard! Please tell us about your PhD and postdoc work

And don't worry, the creationists might run away for a while, but they'll be back

Quetzal

Hey pseudobug! Welcome to II!

As was posted on another thread, II seems to be going through a period of evolutionary cretinist stasis. I have been assured that punctuated equilibrium applies, and they will return.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to share some of the anecdotes from your battles with the forces of darkness, this is the place to do it!

pseudobug

Thanks BLoggins02. As to the details, can't tell them all. If I did, I'd have to kill you! In the condensed version, I've worked on the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in a Gram -'ve bacterial species. Pretty standard stuff like trying to identify a specific pathway's regulatory protein{s), construct and characterize mutant(s) in the regulator, sequence the gene encoding the repressor, purify the protein, etc. My postdoc work has been in the area of bacterial quorum sensing--or a form of intercellular communication in which bacteria produce small molecules that are sensed by surrounding bacteria in a concentration-dependent manner to either upregulate or downregulate gene expression.

Bored yet? The above usually gets the glazed eye look going in most folks. Can't tell any one though, I'm thinking of patenting it as an aural sedative for the treatment of insomnia (man, I can't believe I put narcolepsy in the original. Time to wake up!). :lol

Morpho, interesting you mention the battles with the "forces of darkness". I just recently became in embroiled in them on an off-topic board at a sports board (odd, huh?).

<a href="http://pub93.ezboard.com/finsidecarolinafrm7.showMessageRange?topicID=1474. topic&start=41&stop=80" target="_blank">Here is one of the cretinists (sic) "discussions" on that board.</a>.

As you can see, there are several "dark-siders" involved and I am greatly out-numbered.

If you don't care to read the thread, here is a one line ditty from the dark side in another thread:
[ January 26, 2002: Message edited by: pseudobug ]

[ January 26, 2002: Message edited by: pseudobug ]

[ January 26, 2002: Message edited by: pseudobug ]</p>

BLoggins02

Bored? Nope. Eyes glazed over? Not in the slightest. Then again, the only reason I understood every bit of what you said is that in the process of reading arguments with cretinists 'round here you start to get REALLY interested in biology and organic chemistry, go figure

Funny, not once have I learned a single enlightening thing listening to a creationist

Next time some idiot tells you this, say "Perhaps, but do not meddle in the affairs of scientists, for you are crunchy and go good with ketchup"

theyeti

Hell no. That stuff's cool! I'm an enzyme guy myself. Welcome, and do stick around.

theyeti

Prince Ashitaka

All newbies (until they reach 100 posts), must put at the end of each post. Welcome to the II.

- Prince Ashitaka -

P.S. This post belongs on the "Welcome! Introductions and Help" board.

[ January 26, 2002: Message edited by: Prince Ashitaka ]</p>

Queen of Swords

Originally posted by pseudobug:
<strong>In the condensed version, I've worked on the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in a Gram -'ve bacterial species. Pretty standard stuff like trying to identify a specific pathway's regulatory protein{s), construct and characterize mutant(s) in the regulator, sequence the gene encoding the repressor, purify the protein, etc. My postdoc work has been in the area of bacterial quorum sensing--or a form of intercellular communication in which bacteria produce small molecules that are sensed by surrounding bacteria in a concentration-dependent manner to either upregulate or downregulate gene expression.
</strong>

Friend!

I wrote my prelim proposal on the degradation of the autoinducer-2 in Salmonella typhimurium, but the committee didn't like it, so I switched to a Master's degree and wrote my thesis on exopolysaccharides produced by the same bacterium to play a role in swarming.

Finally, another bacteria person!

RufusAtticus

It's nice that you two have found each other.

Any other theorists here?

-RvFvS (your neighborhood evolutionary theorist)